[kjohnson34]

Hi,

I have access to some land and I'm thinking of getting 2 weaner's next spring to grow on for the freezer, i plan to build an enclosure with post and stock fence with a couple of stands of electric wire on the inside, 1st question would 30ft by 40ft be big enough, 2nd question would the energizers i use for my horses be strong enough to electrify the wires, 3rd question i also have a allotment from which i would supplement their dry food is this OK, 4th question what sort of price should i be paying for bagged feed. Sorry if these seem obvious questions but we all have to start somewhere, i keep chickens, ducks and geese but this is a bit of a step up, also not sure if it makes any difference but I'm planning on a Berkshire and a Saddleback.

[farmershort]

Hi,

I have access to some land and I'm thinking of getting 2 weaner's next spring to grow on for the freezer, i plan to build an enclosure with post and stock fence with a couple of stands of electric wire on the inside, 1st question would 30ft by 40ft be big enough, 2nd question would the energizers i use for my horses be strong enough to electrify the wires, 3rd question i also have a allotment from which i would supplement their dry food is this OK, 4th question what sort of price should i be paying for bagged feed. Sorry if these seem obvious questions but we all have to start somewhere, i keep chickens, ducks and geese but this is a bit of a step up, also not sure if it makes any difference but I'm planning on a Berkshire and a Saddleback.

30ft x 40ft is plenty for 2 weaners

any old energiser should be ok over that small area - deffo the case with a horse one - pigs have no hair to zap through!

food from the allotment is a grey area for me I'm afraid... new rules & regs, and I'm not up to date...

sow & weaner pellets cost us about £6 per 20 kilo bag. Cheaper if you can take a tonne

we have berkshires at the minute - lovelly meat, darker and richer than saddle back and GOS, but the pigs are a bit wilder too - still fine enough to cope with though.

HTH

[kjohnson34]

As everyone on here has more experience than me what would people suggest as my first pigs?

[farmershort]

As everyone on here has more experience than me what would people suggest as my first pigs?

what do you want them for? selling to the public? curing? big joints? more flavourful pork? loads of bacon? Clearing the ground?

It's the same as chickens I suppose - different breeds give you different things. we tend to just go with whatever 'oldish' breeds we can find for about £40 a weaner. this had been large white X, middle white, Lop X, berkshires, GOS, saddleback, welsh white.... and almost large blacks - but we missed out!

[kjohnson34]

We  just want some quality pork so a breed that will give us a good selection of meat

[Eve]

Yes to all your questions, and £6-7 a bag for feed, twice as much for organic feed. Choose a breed with lop ears as these are more docile (their ears cover their eyes so they can't see that well where they're going).
We keep Gloucester Old Spots (boars uncastrated!) and they're fab, superlovely and taste divine. £50 is about the minimum to pay per weaner, though, and often it's more to make sure they're from a well looked after holding (don't go for the cheapest). GOS are very good for both fresh meat and hams & bacon.

Have a look around this forum, there's loads of advice and funny stories. Since you've already got access to land, the only thing to make sure now is that you can borrow a trailer when they need to go for the chop. The rest is easy.

Have a look on the various forums, and ask away!


Eve  

[oaklandspigs]

Hi, hope you looking forward to it.

Food from allotment is fine, as long as it has not been in a kitchen.  If you don't use pesticuides, you can also feed all the weeds etc., so can start to think "weeding is feeding" rather than a thankless chore.  We feed anything that has gone over, bolted, not grown properly etc.  They also love grass clippings, so mowing the lawn is also feeding (again no chemicals used on lawn).  As our veg patch is on our land, we put a couple on it in Jan, and they clear anything remaining, and turn the soil over as well.  Your local allotment society will not want this, but others with home veg patches can consider!

Breed wise, if you google every breed society you will see that they all say that there breeds are best for temperment, prolific breeders, make great sausages, chops,  bacon, joints, make lovely pets and bring you tea in the morning. OK so they don't all say that, but in essence breeders are keen about their breed, and asking us lot will only get you lots of passionate opinions. And that's before you start to consider crossbreds !

At oaklands pigs we have most of the breeds, and our view would be buy what you like the look of. We suggest you start with a lop eared breed (ears down) rather than a prick eared (ears up) as they tend to be easier to handle.  But plenty of people start with a tamworth (prick eared) and have fun putting it back in it's enclosure each day - Our tams are some of my favorite. So Saddleback, Gloucester Old Spot, Oxford Sandy & Black, Large black, Welsh etc.  would be great as first ones.  Berkshires are nice, but smaller, and prick eared, as are Tamworths, and by all means go for one, but just do so knowing they are prick eared.  No doubt someone will post that theirs are fine, and probably are!  

[Hilarysmum]

From my experiences here in France rather than UK where hopefully its a lot different.  First try to see as many holdings as possible.  That way you will get an eye for a good piglet.  If at all possible buy piglets that are already weaned and are at least 8 weeks old, its very hard taking piglets direct from mum, especially when they are quite young as is often the practice here.

Where ever you buy from ask if they will sell you a sack of the feed the weaners are currently eating so that the diet changes can be made more easily.

Whatever you choose, be warned, pigs are very addictive.  Welcome to the world of the pig owner.   

[Womble]

We're in much the same situation as you, in that we're hoping to get some weaners to fatten up sometime in the future. I read two books from the library, and I'll be honest, I felt I was none the wiser. However, given how friendly OaklandsPigs had been in replying to posts on this forum, I took a punt and bought their book.

So, what can I say?  I've found it nothing short of superb - a whole lifetime of pig keeping experience condensed down into one well written volume. It basically covers everything from choosing, housing and caring for your pigs, right through to how to butcher them at the end. So, though Oaklandspigs are clearly too embarrassed to blow their own trumpet in their post above, I will - buy the book - it's great!! 

[Anke]

You will need to get a farm code/agricultural holding number from DEFRA or scottish/welsh equivalents first, once your pigs arrive they will also give you a herd number.

regs are different re eartags etc in Scotland, don't know where you are, could only help with Scotland.

If you want two weaners you might find it easier to start off with two of the same breed, unless you find a breeder with two different breeds with sows that farrowed very closely together, so that weaners are of similar age - just a practical suggestion. litter mates will get on well with each other and can be brought onto the holding together, otherwise you get into difficulties re standstill times.

We have had great meat from a variety of breeds, GOS, Saddlebacks, Lops and also GOS/middle white crosses. Its the feeding and care that matters more than the actual breed - but I fear I have unleashed a torrent of responses from the afficionados here....

Have fun!

[pikilily]

....there are absolutely loads of very experienced piggy people here on the forum who are thrilled to advise anyone who wishes to join the ranks.

I'll tell you my experience as an absolute novice.....on a limited budget, ie beg, borrow, or improvise!!

I had my first piglets this year. Two boys so I wouldn't be tempted to keep and breed (apparently boys are generally calmer, in the piggy world!!)
Mine were Berkshires....I suppose its like any animal - there will be strains of breeds which are calm and those that are lively. I met their parents and was impressed with how laid back they were. And as with other animals their temperament, I suppose, will also depend on how they are handled. Apparently pigs love rubber and mine were very inquisitive and mouthy with my wellies. A couple of firm taps on the nose with my fingertips and they stopped biting my toes!!

I was so excited and nervous about getting it right. But planning and forethought is always a must, so i had picked the brains of loads of people. I gave myself time to really think hard about all the logistics, fencing etc. The local Animal Health officers were really helpful about all the formalities, so was Defra.

I chose an area that i could electric fence, yet was inside a paddock with stock fencing in case of escaping piggies!!
Think about how you will get them out of the area when it is time for slaughter, its easy carrying little piglets through the garden and around the rose bed but a bit more tricky when they weigh 70 kg. Originally i had thought I would put them in the orchard,- romantic notion - BUT, I would have had a hell of a job getting them from that area, through the garden, to the trailer, ....so i just had to bucket the apples to them in their plain paddock. 

I bought a second hand calf hutch to use as a sty.. this will double as a lamb shelter in the spring.  I did overestimate how much straw i would need for the 4-5months the pigs were going to be with me. They were really clean and tidy. They probably went through only 1/2 round bale of straw...I bought 4 bales 

I found a water container (old cattle lick) low enough and wide enough that it would hold sufficient water, and be stable so, in theory, they couldn't shove it over... some people put water buckets in tyres etc. or use concrete Belfast type sinks. Also if your pen area can be close to a water supply/hosepipe because you will lovingly fill their butt with water, turn around and they will have either jumped in it or tipped it over!!

For feeding I used 'Sow and Weaner' pellets all the way through to slaughter weight. I feed them in a plastic sheep trough i had here. Latterly they would toss it about a bit. I did have a shed close enough for storing the feed, towards the end they are going through nearly a bag a week, so you need good storage.

I did feed them bits and bobs from the orchard and the veg garden. BUT these items NEVER went via the house or kitchen. i even have a marble chopping board on a bench outside the back door for veg trimming etc.

I played football with them, scratched them and brushed them, gave them a horseball with pellets inside. they also had a Pilate's ball to play with... we loved having them and i believe they were happy... they never escaped, or showed signs of stress, they never fought.

We also have planned to use the rectangle the pigs were in to grow potato's next year. Then pigs the following year.

It has been a real treat keeping the boys, an honour to get to know them and to learn a bit of pig husbandry from them.  It was tough having to take them to the abattoir.  I will definitely do it again.

Emma T

[pointy]

I can echo Emma's comments. We have 2 saddleback girls, arrived begining of June, off to slaughter 29th Nov. They have been a delight, education and hopefully for the next several months we will be thinking of them at every breakfast and numerous evening meals.

They have at times been hard work especicially when they escape and are very good company, my wife laughs at the conversations I have with them (they're at least are good listeners).

We have 4 weaners arriving soon so the fun never ends.

Enjoy your pigs. John

[waterhouse]

Gosh what a lot of useful advice!

Do they need much medical treatment?  I guess I don't need to worry about sheep scab and fly strike so are they easier than sheep?  Foot rot?

[manian]

hi
we got ours at the end of August and were complete novices....... defra were brilliant and animal health sent copies of all forms and coped with my 'blond' questions!!
we read loads and loads and helped by farmer friends also for advice and type of breed for the novice who doesn't want loads of fat and no meat.
also their journey was short and they didn't appear stressed; by the end of day 3; 2 of them (stumpy and longtail) had a slight rash- stumpy was limping  and then they all didn't want to eat in the evening....... .
i was fretting and worried, got loads of help on her and the person we got them from came and was brill. (i was overfeeding them!!!!)
weighing scales reset and feeding less they soon settled and rash went (put down to stress of different environment etc.) and no stopping them eating now
After 2 weeks poppy had a problem peeing...... and was constipated. again got help on here and from farmer and vet.... lactulose and exlax (made the chemist chuckle wheni explained what it was for) for a few days and making her feed sloppy to ensure that she got more water soon rectified her problem...although i did get some funny looks while we were washing her legs and putting sudocrem on as a barrier cream to stop getting sore!!!
Luckily thats the only probs we had. the usual things like worming can be fun....

Poppy, Petal, longtail and stumpy are due to be tagged early jan and booked in for jan.......mixed feelings about that

[farmershort]

The only part of the advice above that I would disagree with is the "pay at least £50".... Sounds like the advise of a seller to me. I buy a lot of weaners from a man who works for the state vet service (animal health now), he really knows his stuff, has top notch animals, of many breeds, and really cares about his stock. The fact that we get weaners for £35 to £45 each does not mean that they're low quality animals - simply that we're savvy, and have a good relationship with a breeder, imho.